Why Jacinda Ardern will need her bodyguards, Chris Hipkins’ hometown rallies behind the ‘boy from the Hutt,’ and when the housing market might turnaround in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
An Auckland farmer has gone viral after turning one of his large fields into a troll message board for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after confirming she’s stepping down as the country’s leader.
Disgruntled by the pressure Labour’s new regulations are putting on farmers, including a “fart tax” on carbon emissions from livestock, Vegetable grower Rodney Ng decided to make his feelings about Ardern’s time at the top well-known.
In a seven-hour effort, Ng and his staff mowed a giant message into a field, directly under a flight path to Auckland Airport, writing: “End of an error”.
Taking to social media, Ng posted a video of the process, revealing it took three people seven hours to create, with each letter roughly 40 metres in length.
The video shows Ng using a GPS to assist in the mapping out of the words to mow.
“The farmers of NZ would like to wish you all the best! We had our ups and downs. We don’t agree with a heck of a lot. But that’s water under the bridge. We can all celebrate now.
“I thought we’d all send you a message. You were one of a kind that’s for sure. I hope I’ve spelt it correctly,” the video states as it shows the final product of their labour.
Speaking to Daily Mail, he said “the fart tax is a hard one for beef and dairy”, as well as stressing the “mental health of many New Zealand farmers has been a big concern over the last few years”.
He went on to say increasing regulation and new legislations are adding immense pressure on farmers trying to make a living and keep the economy rolling.
Ng, who provides produce for the local supermarkets, told Daily Mail he has received support following his stunt.
Farmer Rodney Ng used his farm to send a message to outgoing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Facebook / Rodney Ng
Ng’s controversial stunt comes as security and disinformation experts spoken to by the Herald say there would be cause to maintain protection after Ardern steps down and into the future.
It comes as University of Auckland researchers dive into data showing Ardern was the target of consistent abuse and threats well beyond others.
Those researchers pulled posts relating to Ardern and six other bureaucrats and politicians from some of the internet’s less regulated regions - 4Chan, 8kun, Telegram and Reddit - and found 93 per cent of abusive, angry or threatening messages were aimed at the Prime Minister.
Jacinda Ardern choked back tears as she revealed she was stepping down as Prime Minister. Photo / Warren Buckland
The Herald’s own investigation into the online targeting of Ardern has discovered threats of rape and murder, her portrayal as demonic or “evil”, depictions of her as Adolf Hitler and other extreme messaging.
Those include false claims Ardern had broken international law and would be brought to justice - then executed when found guilty.
At least eight people have been charged with threatening to kill the Prime Minister during her term. The Herald is aware of evidence to emerge in other cases showing violent intent towards Ardern, including a video in which her image was repeatedly shot at close range by someone using a silenced rifle with telescopic sights.
The Disinformation Project director Kate Hannah, who studies the impact of false and misleading information, said the online abuse aimed at Ardern did not just come from the darker corners of the internet.
Rather, she said abuse was also prolific on mainstream social media channels with a scan of Facebook after Ardern’s resignation revealing untoward comments from people she considered regular citizens.
That included caricatures of Ardern which might not be considered abusive by some. “The long bow from ‘Cindy’ to the c-word - for me, that’s one step away from the next c-word.”
